By Emilia Reyes and Joseph Castro, The Fresno Bee, November 20, 2019
Over the last few years, our community has given birth to innovative solution-driven projects to combat one stark fact: Fresno County ranks No. 1 on the list of California counties, with the highest preterm rate of two-thirds of all births. More startling, African American babies continue to die in their first year of life at three times the rate of all other babies.
Landing on what to do about our reality has been no easy task. The statistics continue to be alarming, and the problem, at times, seems overwhelming. Still, as community leaders, and as parents, we have persisted to bring collective action and begin changing the narrative — most critically for our African American babies and families.
Through a partnership with Fresno State’s Central Valley Health Policy Institute and First 5 Fresno County in 2015, we learned firsthand the challenges faced by many of our African American neighbors. Mothers spoke about feeling unwelcomed at doctors’ offices and thus opting out of prenatal-care appointments; about feeling isolated while being pregnant; and about the stigma they felt when asking for any type of help, solely for being black. The assessment and community feedback informed strategies to begin addressing the disparities.
Comments (0)